They are a native insect and sporadic pest of improved pastures on the southern tablelands, slopes and south coast. The beetles feed mainly on dung of introduced animals, rather than pasture.

The beetles emerge from the ground from January to mid March, at dusk, a couple of days after rains. If the weather is warm and humid, with frequent thunderstorms, they start hatching, swarm and fly away to infest new areas, laying new eggs. Bob Templeton from the Rural Lands Protection Board said that the bugs were last around in Braidwood in great numbers two years ago when the conditions were similar.